Careers

Editorial Archive

"We all understand how inspiring it is for younger generations to look at cool science images, but there is definitely more to it than that. It also gives us a boost to create and invent. All people get influenced by beauty, even the scientists. That is why I would recommend to once in a while veer off the protocol, try something new, something crazy. It may not work, but if it does, it is your eureka moment. You may be the only man on the planet seeing it and then comes the tingling feeling in your tummy. This is science. The inspiration, discovery and excitement. Just remember to hit "capture" before that moment goes away!"
– Tomasz Koprowski, 2014 JALA & JBS Art of Science Contest winner

Patrick Beattie, 2014 SLAS Innovation Award winner and former director of operations for Diagnostics for All (DFA), recently took the next step on his journey to improve global health when he was named a Skoll Scholar by the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. He credits "the incredible work that has been done by the entire DFA team over the past six years" as instrumental to his selection for this honor.

SLAS2015 Conference Co-Chair Elliot Hui, Ph.D., is rarely at rest. He spends his weeks teaching, directing a laboratory of 16 undergraduate and graduate students and even competing in a variety of team sports with his students and fellow faculty members.

Awareness of leachates received a boost in 2008, when Science published a paper showing that bioactive contaminants leaching from plasticware "demonstrate potent effects on enzyme and receptor proteins." Shortly thereafter, an article in the Journal of Biomolecular Screening identified a bioactive substance leaching from automated compound-handling plastic tips. "We need to do more to address this problem," says Lynn Rasmussen, HTS supervisor at Southern Research Institute in Birmingham, AL, and chair of the SLAS Labware Leachables Special Interest Group (SIG).

While still a student, Joshua Kangas, Ph.D., made a life-changing decision. Instead of moving along his planned career path in education, he decided to partner with science and business experts to launch a company that would help enhance the efficiency of drug discovery efforts.

"We are all tasked with finding new drugs that can differentiate our companies and provide real benefit to patients," says John Joslin, research investigator at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF), San Diego, CA. "To do so, we need to establish biologically relevant screening assays for our high-throughput screening campaigns. However, increasing the biological relevance leads to more complex biology that requires new methodologies for lead identification and our screening systems must evolve to meet this challenge."

Early on in his scientific training, SLAS member Lorenz Mayr, Ph.D., learned to let the data speak for itself. Be precise about interpretation, but don't over-analyze. Most importantly he learned that it is never OK to be "about right" – you have to be absolutely right before you submit work for publication.

Special issues published by the Journal of Biomolecular Screening (JBS) and the Journal of Laboratory Automation (JALA) represent hallmarks of important achievement by SLAS and its members, especially those whose sweat equity make them such meaningful and memorable successes. Two JALA guest editors share their recent experiences and demonstrate how personal passion fuels the SLAS Spirit of Community.

Recent high school graduate Cynthia Yin is a well-rounded student who has a great mind for science, a gift for music and a mean game of golf. This class valedictorian excels in many areas of life and has a wall of awards to prove it, including an SLAS Tony B. Academic Travel Award. Her greatest accomplishment, however, is seeking opportunity and using it to advance her knowledge.

Compared with trying to discover and develop a novel compound from scratch, repurposing an approved drug saves time and money. It might be for a different indication or to rescue a candidate drug that may have failed in early trials and developing it to treat a different condition. Repurposing also carries less risk to companies and to patients, according to SLAS Drug Repurposing SIG Co-chairs Roger Bosse, Ph.D., senior global product leader for PerkinElmer, Life Sciences & Technology and Mathieu Arcand, Ph.D., co-founder of Biopra.

"Although high-throughput screening has been going on for almost two decades, only now are substantial public datasets emerging and being made available for cross analysis—and they're large enough and well annotated enough to make a difference in our work," says Paul Clemons, Ph.D., director, Computational Chemical Biology Research at the Broad Institute.

How does one seed a conservative science environment with new technology, particularly one that replaces a tool as basic as the lab coat? By being an active part of the community, listening to the challenges faced by its members and contributing to collaborative efforts.

"I'm passionate about global health, about my own research to develop technologies for use in resource-limited settings, as well as the work that others are doing to improve the lives of people in developing countries," says Peter Lillehoj, Ph.D., of Michigan State University in East Lansing. That passion motivated Lillehoj to serve as guest editor of a 2014 special issue of the Journal of Laboratory Automation (JALA) on New Developments in Global Health Technologies.

A recent Ph.D. has had three interviews in the last month. She shared that she heard back from her second most promising interview at a start-up company: "the people from HR just contacted me. They let me know that they have chosen another person."

Two researchers who are working on projects with implications for different aspects of drug discovery reveal their motivations for using 3D printing in the laboratory. They are inspired not only by the challenge of doing innovative science, but also by the opportunity to make their work accessible to scientists around the world.

SLAS members Anne Marie Quinn and Thomas Hughes carved a place for their company, Montana Molecular, far from the biotech hubs that launched their careers. The company put down roots on Quinn's vision that the tools of science drive progress and the scientists who adopt those tools early have a professional advantage.

"Advances in precision medicine, outcomes management and genetic classification require high quality biospecimens, yet standard procedures for collecting, storing and handling such samples are lacking," says Katheryn Shea, vice president of Bioservices at Precision Bioservices in Frederick, MD, and immediate past president of the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER), an SLAS strategic alliance partner. "Inconsistency in these processes can lead to inconsistent, irreproducible results," she warns.

A sense of awe, a gasp or even five minutes of concentrated silence; these are the reactions SLAS member Jody Keck seeks as he works with elementary students to spark an early interest in science and technology. Even for the kids who don't grow up to be scientists, Keck hopes to plant a sense of curiosity and determination to find answers in the face of a challenge.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

LATEST ARTICLES

Could hijacking one of the body’s own systems be the key to finding new targets for hard-to-treat diseases? Dane Mohl, Ph.D., scientist at Amgen (Thousand Oaks, CA) believes it may be. With the advent of genomics, drug development has focused on using genetics to identify therapeutic targets, which has led to targets that aren’t necessarily easily drugged through traditional methods. “Letting genetics guide our choices for treating disease means we have to use whatever modalities are available,” Mohl says. “We have to be more creative and that means we need a larger tool box to get to those new targets.”

It seems like just yesterday that I assumed the SLAS presidency at SLAS2018, last February in San Diego, and now the year is almost up! It’s time for me to say farewell and hand over the reins to my successor, Alan E. Fletcher, Ph.D., of PerkinElmer Discovery and Analytical Solutions (Hopkinton, MA, USA). I’ve really enjoyed my three years on the SLAS Board of Directors and am honored to have been given the opportunity to serve as the Society’s 2018 president.

Take a little wonder and the desire to do good. Throw in meaningful research experience, honest commitment, science smarts and a whole lot of energy, and you've taken one step toward describing SLAS's Scientific Director Michael (Mike) Tarselli, Ph.D. The Boston (MA, USA) native started his position with the Society in September of 2018, and finds his new role yet another way to make life better for scientists, engineers and the world.

This website or its third party tools use cookies which are used to offer a personalized experience on our website, generate statistics and realize advertising or social network tracking. By closing this banner, scrolling this page, clicking a link or continuing to browse otherwise, you agree to the use of cookies. Find out more about our Privacy & Cookie policy ( non-EU | EU/UK ) and how to withdraw consent to all or some of the cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.